Guitar skills for singer/songwriters

[highvibrational]

I'm a beginning singer/songwriter who basically strums through songs to accompany my voice. I've been advised to make my guitar playing more interesting. Is there anything you can recommend to do this? I find it challenging enough to remember chords when I play, but I need to start expanding my guitar skills. My inspiration is James Taylor, but I know he has his own unique way with the guitar. Thank you.

[Paddy1951]

Start by learning small variations of chords you know. It is, of course, great to be an accomplished guitar player.

That said, I would argue that your voice is the most important instrument if you are a singer/songwriter and are, or planning to perform. Learn to make the best of your voice- phrasing, dynamics, range, diction. Figure out what keys your voice is suited to. There are great songs that might be better for you, in a different key.

Master "Cowboy" chords. You can do a lot with just those if used and played well. (There are sometimes, condescending comments made about playing simple, open chords. There are huge numbers of good songs written with simple chord progressions.)

Don't be too critical of songs you write. Give them a chance. As you become accomplished, you will become more critical of your efforts.
Don't watch any of those stupid "I wanna be an instant overnight success" TV shows. Be patient, and steady.

All the best to you.

[stanron]

The first embellishment on strumming could be selecting bass notes. Pick a low note from the chord as your bass note then strum the high part of your chord. If you are used to up and down strumming, pick down on the bass note then strum down and up on the high sounding strings of your chord.

Embellish this by selecting which bass notes sound best and using runs of bass notes to lead into chord changes.

You can do this by flat picking or finger picking.

[Earl49]

Bass runs and "boom-chuck" style will greatly expand your textures versus plain strumming. Next add some embellishments like Sus chords - suspended 2nd and 4ths. One example: a G chord can be dressed up by adding the C note (fourth of the scale) at the second string, first fret.

Finally, when I'm playing with others, I try to "play where they ain't". If they are playing first position cowboy chords, I use the barre form in another location, or capo and sue different chord shapes. You can adapt that trick to your playing too. Maybe use cowboy chords for the verse, and barre chords for the chorus.

[RedJoker]

One thing I did as a singer / songwriter is learn some simple fingerpicking patterns. You fret the same chords as you already do but with a simple fingerpicking pattern of the strings. That is useful for the softer, mellower songs while leaving the strumming to the faster, more energetic songs. By using the same chords with your fretting hand, you can't play a wrong note with your picking hand. It might not be exactly the note you meant but it's still part of the chord, after all.

Plus, James Taylor does a lot of fingerpicking. I play 'Carolina in my Mind' with just a simple finger picking pattern of the chords. It makes the playing sound much more complicated and intricate than it actually is.

[Paddy1951]

One thing you can do to embelish your playing is investigate and use double stops. Double stop= not a chord, not a single note. I learned about double stops from fiddlers.

As an example in standard tuning, fret the b string at the first fret, the g string at the second fret. Pick them together (only those 2 strings) and slide the up (while still fretted) to the third and fourth frets. You can slide this back and forth and this double stop works well going into a number of chords. Try this then go in to a d chord you will get the idea.

Blues players seem to like double stops but I think they are a good way to add spice to other kinds of music as well.

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by highvibrational

I'm a beginning singer/songwriter who basically strums through songs to accompany my voice. I've been advised to make my guitar playing more interesting. Is there anything you can recommend to do this? I find it challenging enough to remember chords when I play, but I need to start expanding my guitar skills. My inspiration is James Taylor, but I know he has his own unique way with the guitar. Thank you.

JT is a good start. He was self-taught, originally, and worked out his own style early. I use a lot of similar fingering for basic chords that he does. Have you noticed how they are different than almost everyone else's, especially his open D, Am, and Em? He likes D-shapes a lot and he also crawls across the fretboard, almost always keeping an anchor finger somewhere. I taught myself and managed to devise very similar fingering before I knew he did it that way. The moral is, don't be afraid to experiment with fingering.

I'm a fairly new singer-songwriter, too, on guitar, and I spent a good deal of time really developing my "picking" hand. (I actually never play with a pick, I use all fingers all the time but I play lefty, so "picking" hand.) After I learned basic Travis picking and some patterns, I practically never used standard patterns again. Instead, I blend fingering and strumming in my own style. It sounds quite complex, so I would imagine it'd be difficult to copy, but I'm just doing what comes naturally to my hands and how I hold the guitar and what I like to hear. I would recommend you learn more chords and what the patterns are all about, but then work out both fretting and strumming styles that come naturally to you. They will be easier for you, as well as unique and interesting. Right now I'm working on getting more interesting rhythms with some syncopation and swing. Lots to learn!

[highvibrational]

I appreciate all of your suggestions and can't wait until I get to try them out.

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

One thing I did as a singer / songwriter is learn some simple fingerpicking patterns. You fret the same chords as you already do but with a simple fingerpicking pattern of the strings.

I agree with all the advice so far, especially this.

[jaymarsch]

I have played a bit of fingerstyle and Travis picking as well as very simple strumming to accompany the songs that I write. I recently started taking lessons from a local singer/songwriter guitarist and a whole world has opened up to me. If you can swing a few lessons with someone in your area I would highly recommend. I am learning things about my picking hand position and the economy of motion for my fingers, hand, wrist and arm that is invaluable in terms of getting cleaner tone, better volume, more control when playing faster in time, and being more relaxed all the while.

Have fun exploring but take your time, there is a lot to learn and each incremental step will add a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction to your playing.

Best,
Jayne

[BFD]

I listened to some of your recordings and your basics seems pretty solid, including singing, strumming and timing. I agree that adding interest to your accompaniment is a worthy pursuit.
Practicing new techniques is a way to supply yourself with more options, though it's somewhat like buying some new tools and then figuring out what you might be able to build with them. I think it's usually best to incorporate new skills into material you already know or are in the process of learning. That way you have a context to perfect the timing and execution.
Also, rather than randomly learning new techniques on their own, find someone who's playing you admire, (JT...or something simpler) and steal from them. That's how most great musicians have assembled their bag of tricks

p.s I spent a ton of time figuring out JT moves in my younger day....and never did get all the way there....

[SunnyDee]

I listened to your recordings on soundcloud (didn't notice the link earlier). Your voice is lovely. I was thinking you might start by incorporating more dynamics, seems like most of what you're playing is all pretty much the same volume and full-on strumming. Adjusting dynamics would be an pretty easy first technique to work with.

[Pitar]

The question about making playing more interesting is the point of practicing playing guitar to be a guitar player, which is not to confuse it as practicing to be a singer/songwriter.

The song should subordinate the guitar to a melody that complements the lyrical melody. James Taylor's music does that but we can't dismiss it as unapproachable simply because he has his own style. That's the entire point of being a good singer/songwriter.

Strumming alone will not give a player his own style. How does he acquire a style? That's where the musician is separated from the artist. A fellow musician can provide you a list of various methods and dynamics for playing guitar but they, nor that list will make you an artist. How you approach playing as an art form is at the basis of developing an attractive relationship between playing and singing.

Sometimes the guitar has to do the singing. If you can make it do that in a complementary way to the song it's because you've arrived at the understanding of how the guitar and vocal relationship should unfold for the audience. It's formulaic in execution and artistry in arrangement. Strumming is formulaic and will quickly expose itself that way.

[lovgren]

Just one quick note -- when singing over a guitar, sometimes less guitar is more, and actually makes things more interesting.

You don't necessarily need to add something to your strumming. In fact, playing single-note lines is actually achieved by taking things away (removing the harmony notes in the chords). Sometimes even taking the guitar out completely for a measure is desirable and adds effect.

If you're going to add some lines or embellishments, they're easiest to do during the times you're not singing (at the end of vocal lines or between verses, etc.) Playing complex guitar while singing is really tough and isn't necessary anyway.

Another way to add variety - play in different positions and keys if you can. So if you're playing multiple songs, don't play everything in G, for example. Or at least choose songs that put the chords in a different order. Or play some that use a capo. Playing with a capo is a great way to play just a bit up the neck without actually using barre chords. Adds variety.

Good luck.

[BFD]

Originally Posted by lovgren

Just one quick note -- when singing over a guitar, sometimes less guitar is more, and actually makes things more interesting.

You don't necessarily need to add something to your strumming. In fact, playing single-note lines is actually achieved by taking things away (removing the harmony notes in the chords). Sometimes even taking the guitar out completely for a measure is desirable and adds effect...

I think this is great advice, and applicable to players at any level. You don't need to be a pro to incorporate a range of dynamics and complexity.